This past weekend, the St. Adolphe Minor Hockey Association played host to ten co-ed teams as they battled it out to win the 2023 Hockey Manitoba U13 A1 provincial hockey championships. It was the first time St. Adolphe had hosted such an event in well over a decade.
Each year, approximately 25 communities around the province welcome provincial tournaments. This year, around 200 teams and 3,000 players participated.
Darren Skelton, president of the St. Adolphe Minor Hockey Association, points out that there were also regional playdowns leading up to the event, meaning that the teams who competed in this year’s tournament were really the best of the best from U13 A1 in Manitoba.
“The goal of the event was to provide a memorable weekend for the over 150 players as well as over 50 coaches or managers, and countless parents, siblings, grandparents, family, and friends,” says Skelton. “These types of events are the ones that stay in the minds of players for their entire lives. I can still remember back in my minor hockey days, and the memories and friendships created by provincial tournaments and the sense of pride and comradery that comes with a team sport. Our goal was for hockey to shine during the tournament but for the memories to last a lifetime!”
On Friday, the St. Adolphe Hawks played two games, first falling to the Brandon Wheat Kings 12–1, then losing to the Virden Junior Oil Capitals 9–0. The Hawks player of the game versus Brandon was Julien Boisjoli, and Léo Sylvestre took the honours in the Virden matchup.
On Saturday, the seventh-ranked Stonewall Blues defeated tenth-ranked St. Adolphe 3–0. For this final outing of the tournament, Griffin Ouimet was the Hawks player of the game.
Day three of the tourney saw the Springfield Icehawks and Dauphin Kings duke it out for the bronze medal. Dauphin came out ahead with a final score of 7–4.
The final battle of the weekend was between Brandon and Virden. In the end, the Wheat Kings took down the Junior Oil Capitals 4–2 and came away with the gold medal.
Skelton says he was pleased with how the tournament turned out.
“Overall it was a really exciting weekend for the town of St. Adolphe, the St. Adolphe Minor Hockey Association, and its members,” he says. “We look forward to our next opportunity to show Hockey Manitoba what the town of St. Adolphe has to offer!”
Skelton adds that events like this one would not be possible without the strong support of business partners in the community as well as the dedicated Provincials committee, to whom he says he will be indebted for a long time.
“It takes countless volunteer hours to put on an event like this and the support from the people of St. Adolphe did not disappoint!”
